1st 5K

Just over 8 months to the day since my last 5K. With marathon training last year, I passed on the fall racing season, reserving my weekends for long runs instead.

I stepped to the starting line at 8:30 am for the RHS 5K. It was in the low 40's, brilliant sunshine, but nail-biting wind. I was in shorts, long sleeved tech shirt, long sleeved light running top, shivering and regretting that I decided not to bring a pair of gloves. When the race finally started though, it felt just fine.

It was a small race of about 500 runners. Started at a high school, ran through the neighborhood, and ended up back at school for a 3/4 loop on the stadium track. Given my near total lack of preparation, I was happy with my time. 25:37.

After the race, I high tailed it back for Sydney's soccer match. I don't remember the last time we lost this season, including mowing down a bunch of all-boy teams, but they had a tough fight today. Sydney scored our only goal, and the other team, well, had a few more.

Nevertheless, a nice start to a weekend. Beats sitting around at home watching cartoons and chowing down on donuts!

Working For The Weekend

I was all psyched to start racing again this weekend, but first ... Monday, I barely made it through work. Tuesday, I lay in bed all day under the inFLUence (he he, get it?). Wednesday, I spent the day trying to shake off the drugs and clear my head. Tomorrow, I'll start working from home. Then the hard part, a flight to Toronto tomorrow night, returning Friday. Ugh.

Ordinarily, I'd find a masochistic silver lining in this trip (cold? what cold?) to go for a run. Especially since I've never run in Toronto. But not this time. Which means I'll be stepping up to the line on Saturday morning for my first run of the week. Oh man, can we begin next week already?

3/1/07 Update: After all that, American Airlines called me today to say the flight was cancelled due to freezing rain in Toronto. Yes! Then my trip to Phoenix next Monday got rescheduled, and my meeting in San Francisco next Wednesday got cancelled. I'm not complaining.

20K / 4

I've had enough of this slump. It's starting to warm up. It's time to get on the running bandwagon again. I need motivation to run. I need some goals. I'll do a marathon later this year, but for now, I'm going to have some fun with 5Ks for a change. I signed up for four last night, on March 3rd, 17th, 31st and April 7th. There's still two more in April that I want to run, but I'm pretty sure I won't be ending on the SkinnyDipper Sun Run 5K (thankfully, no race pics on their website; it's painful to even think about it).

"Ours Is The Best Sport In The World"

I just happened to wander over the the Runners World site when I found this really interesting article from Amby Burfoot. With apologies to NCAA College Football, I think the title is pretty accurate. Judge for yourself.

California Adventure

I arrived yesterday afternoon, dropped my stuff in my hotel room, raised the blinds, and was met by an unobstructed view of Coit Tower perched atop Telegraph Hill. To the left and in the distance, Alcatraz. To the right, the mighty Queen Mary 2 lay in port. I had to leave immediately for a conference I'm working, and when I came back after dinner, she was already gone ... bound for Honolulu.

I wish I had taken a picture. Tomorrow, I'm going to get my act together and upgrade my ancient phone to at least a camera phone!

In other news, I managed to get a run in today, and man it was something else. I'm in the Hilton Financial District (yay! more Hilton points!), which they might as well rename to the Hilton Chinatown, because you can step off the curb in front of the hotel and you're there.

OK, this is a little pathetic, but I just saw the picture that comes with the hotel website. If I don't get my camera phone tomorrow, you can at least see a reasonable copy of what I see outside my room window!

Anyway, I left the "Financial District" with a goal of going in the general direction of the Golden Gate Bridge. I googled it and knew it was about 5.5 miles away, and I sure wasn't planning on doing 10 today.

I ran up Columbus Avenue, through North Beach, past Ghirardelli Square, around the Aquatic Park, up and down a small but monstrous hill at Fort Mason, through the Marina, into Crissy Field and the Golden Gate National Park. I should've stopped long ago, but I kept on going and thought I could at least make it near the bridge. Well, I went all the way to the base on the bridge at Fort Point. 45 minutes, maybe 5 miles? Oops.

Another runner told me about some stairs I had passed, which would take me up the side of the hill to the bridge. Many, many stair steps later, I was at the tourist shop at the entrance to the bridge. Well, what to do? WTH, worst case, I can always catch a cab back. The sun had just about set by then, and I set off and ran across the bridge and back; them's some dark, cold, windy miles. I ran back into town roughly the way I came, and was so glad to make it back in one piece. Total time 2:16. Way over-schedule.

Tonight, I loaded up with some Garlic Gorganzola Fettucini with Grilled Chicken and Asparagus from the Stinking Rose. What a way to end the day.

Oh, and Happy Anniversary to my S. :-) Wish you were here :-( She was supposed to join me today, but something came up at the last minute. Alright, got to end on a more upbeat note. Let's plan for same time next year, ok S.?

Government Waste

When is a Presidential Suite not a Presidential Suite? When it’s a free upgrade (good), in a Hilton Garden Inn (not so good). Nevertheless, I have more space than I need, a monster 50-inch TV, two AC/heater systems, an ice maker with enough ice for the entire floor, and the pièce de résistance … complimentary Runner’s World magazine sitting on the coffee table. Huh?

Um, sorry folks, I’m a little light on running news.

Without a race goal in mind, and freezing temps in Dallas, I managed only one 6-mile run last weekend. Tomorrow, I have to run, or I’ll go out of my mind. Just have to do it. I’m in Arlington, VA. I’m going to see the sun rise over the Potomac tomorrow.

Why I Run: Reason #8

You travel long enough, it's bound to happen. No, I'm not referring to the last flight out of Dallas last night depositing me at Reagan National Airport at 2:15 AM, which it did. I'm talking about leaving home without, uh, well, essentials. With an "s".

In the cab on the way to my hotel, I'm contemplating going to my client meeting this morning in black dress pants, black dress shoes, and white Thorlos. Not quite the first impression I want to make. Where to get supplies at 3:00 AM? Well, I spied a 24-hour Rite-Aid a block from my hotel, and made a mental note.

6:30 AM and I'm back on the pavement. Figured I might as well make a run out of it and swing by Rite-Aid on the way back. I ran west from Dupont Circle, along Embassy Row, making it to the edge of Rock Creek Parkway. Memories of MCM came back, except that the parkway was full of traffic this time.

I turned around and made it back to Rite-Aid. They only had women's socks. WTH, black is black. One problem solved.

As for the other, they apparently don't stock that kind of contingency at Rite-Aid. I spent way too many minutes staring at the shelf, considering whether I ought to just do a Britney. Better judgement prevailed, and I made a no-nonsense command decision. I felt better after that. And smoother.

The People You Meet

5 flights in 5 days is enough, and I finally made it home last night. Along the way, here's a couple of people I ran into:

On Monday at LaGuardia, it was Mike Ditka himself. He looked just like you'd expect, but he wasn't walking too good. I imagine it's from all the hits during his playing days. S. thinks it's from all the running!

On Thursday during a layover, in of all places, Dallas, I saw this guy in the airport when I got off my plane. He was in a wheelchair, and beside him was a racing wheel. When I got behind him, I glanced at the racing wheel and it had a race bib on it from NYC 2006!

I went up and started talking to him about NYC. He said he did "pretty good", and when I asked how he got in, he sheepishly said:

"Well, I uh, did uh, pretty well, and they uh, invited me".

Oh.

He also mentioned that he's done around 30, yes, 30 marathons. The guy looked like he was 21 years old! I now wished we had talked more, but I had to get to my next flight. I made a mental note to look him up based on his race bib (W12), and this is what I found ... Tyler Byers, professional athlete, 9th place NYC 06, USA Paralympic Team. Pretty cool, huh?

The rest of the week was uneventful. I intended to run during the middle of the week in Jacksonville, but I didn't manage to do so until Friday morning in Chicago. I was up until about 2:00 am working, but I hit the pavement at 7:00 am for my run. I had picked a hotel right along Lake Michigan but didn't have a firm route planned. Following Josh's suggestion, I took the 4 mile loop around Grant Park, along Lake Michigan, the Shedd Aquarium, the Alder Planetarium, and Soldier Field.

It was a great run. On one side, traffic, buildings, people; you could hear and feel the hum of the city starting to wake up. On the other, complete peace, openness, water, sky, clouds, solitude, and duck shit.

Start Packing

After 4 days of work in the new year, the honeymoon is over. Time to hit the road again. Thank goodness for American Airlines miles and Hilton miles, both of which we hope to use in boatloads this summer, by a beach somewhere, soaking it in, resting, recharging. Not much beats running where you can see, smell, and hear the ocean, and end your run by wading into the surf ... sink your feet into the sand ... submerge yourself ... let the waves take over ... float away ...

Yo! Wake Up!

%*#&$?! OK, until then, I'm headed to NYC, Jacksonville, and Chicago instead, next week. %*#&$? again! On the other hand, since I haven't been to Chicago in a while, I'm a bit psyched about getting a run in, but I arrive late Thusday night and have only one shot Friday morning to do so. From downtown, if anyone knows someplace better to run than Lake Shore Drive, please let me know!

Starting Off Again

By the time I got up on New Year's Day, the sun was already shining brilliantly against a blue sky. It was still chilly at about 40F when I took this pic out our backyard.
















A few minutes later, I set off on my first run of the year. I hadn't taken December off like I normally do, but I've only run two, maybe three times, since White Rock on Dec 10.

It was a peaceful and refreshing run around the neighborhood. I saw only 2 other runners in the distance, and one couple walking (fully bundled up). I got in 4+ miles and called it quits. I could literally feel the Tiramisu, German Chocolate Amaretto Cake, and Kahlua Coffee Cheesecake melting away ...